Is this William James Ward? 1915-1951

From the pages of the James Spencer White Album

This cute baby named Willie sent this photo postcard to his Uncle Jim when he was only nine months old. He didn’t give his surname or the date but going by the address it was sent to I was able to determine it was sent to James Spencer White, known as Spen but in this case Uncle Jim. As it was addressed to Uncle Jim at an Army address I presumed it was taken sometime during World War One. So I set about looking at all the children of Uncle Jim’s siblings and it seems like William James Ward might be the right one.

Spen White had an older sister, Mary White born 1883. Mary married Walter Frederick Ward on 12 Apr 1905 at the residence of Charles White, Onamalutu in Marlborough. Walter & Mary’s fourth child was William James Ward born on 8 Jun 1915.

Although James Spencer White is listed as a Corporal (not a Private) he was in the C Company of the Canterbury Infantry Battalion, 14th Reinforcements which is where the postcard was addressed to. This entry is from the published list of the men in C Company 1 Jan 1916 to 31 Dec 1916:-

While I don’t know for sure who Willie is it seems that William James Ward is the best candidate, so far!

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Dawn Scotting
pandora[at]kc.net.nz